Billboard and signage is a well established industry which has typically used lighting systems such as high intensity discharge (HID) or other conventional means of illumination. These systems typically consist of a flood type light which is quasi-directional by using crude reflectors to cast light generally toward the direction of the target. The result is an effective, yet generally inefficient form of lighting where much of the light rays are not incident on the target. This results a less efficient system because much more light needs to be produced than what is actually used to illuminate the target. The extra light that does not hit the illumination target travels into the sky and onto the surrounding objects. In the case of a billboard light where the proximity of the billboard is often close to a road, the extra light can be a distraction to drivers. Additionally, the light which reflects off of non-target objects and light which travels directly from the light source into the sky contributes significantly to light pollution and is currently a subject of regulatory debate. The wasted light from these conventional lighting systems also requires electrical power to produce this unused light. Therefore, light fixtures which produce unused light also waste electricity.
Recently, billboard and signage lights have utilized light emitting diodes (LEDs) to produce light for the purpose of illumination. These lights use LEDs instead of HID in a fixture which is fundamentally similar to a conventional HID lighting fixture. The LEDs may be positioned in a fixture generally pointed toward the target with crude reflectors such that a flood type pattern is formed and cast upon the target. This type of light has the same result as a conventional HID fixture where much of the light is not incident on the actual target. Similar to the conventional HID fixture, this type of LED light produces wasted light and results in wasted electricity. Additionally the center of the billboard near the light is significantly brighter than the edges.
At least some aspects of the disclosure are directed to light apparatus and light systems as described in detail herein.